Closure and lock



A ril 18, 1933. A. JOHNSON CLOSURE AND LOCK Filed Oct. 10, 1930 Zhmcntor ,A Zfred Jbhn 80?? y "imm.

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(Ittomegs Patented Apr. 18, 1933 ALFRED JOHNSON, F UNIONTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA CLOSURE AND LOCK Application filed October 10, 1930. Serial No. 487,850.

This invention relates to tank closures and locks therefor, and is particularly intended for use in connection with gasoline tanks for automobiles.

When ordinary screw caps or screw plugs are employed on gasoline tanks it sometimes happens that the gasoline will be surreptitiously removed by unscrupulous persons, thereby not only causing a monetary 10 loss to the owner of the automobile but also subjecting him to the liability of running out of gas at an inopportune time or in an out of the way place, thus causing considerable trouble and inconvenience.

An object of the present invention resides in the provision of a cap or closure for gasoline tanks, which is of fairly simple and cheap construction, and in which a lock is provided for preventing the removal of the filosure except by one in possession of the Another object of the invention consists in providing a closure of universal application, i. e., one which by slight alteration may be adapted to serve as a screw cap, a screw plug, or a plug provided with a bayonet slot connect-ion.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a closure provided with lugs adapted to co- Operate with inclined slots on a gasolinetank.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view through the upper portion of a tank with the closure in place thereon.

Figure 3 is a bottom view ofthe plug; and

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view of an adapter for connection with the plug to convert it into a screw cap.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of the neck of a tank with which the closure may be used.

Referring to the drawing in more detail, the numeral 1 indicates a tank, preferably a gasoline tank such as used on automobiles, and 2 is the filling neck or nozzle provided with inturned lugs 3 at its upper end for cooperation with corresponding lugs on the by the numeral 4.

tank closure which is indicated generally The closure includes a threaded plug section 5 which is hollow and open at its upper and lower ends. Disposed on the interior of the plug section'5 is the hub 6 of a cap portion 7 which is adapted to rotate with respect tothe plug section 6 under certain circumstances.

Mounted within the hub 6 of the cap 7 is a lock cylinder 8 of usual construction and adapted to be operated by a key 9.

trically connected with the Eccencylinder 8 is a crank pin 9 disposed in a substantially rectangular slot formed in the slidably mounted bolt 10; this bolt having its ends reduced and guided in diametrically opposed slots 11 in the lower end of the hub 6. The look .cylinder 8 and the bolt 10 are permanently secured in position on the hub 6 by a plate 12 which is clamped to the lower end of the hub by means of screws 13 as will be noted from an These screws, examination of Figure 2, are secured to lugs lt formed on the lock cylinder 8.

' The lower end of the screw plug 5 is provided with a plurality of radially disposed slots 15; there being three of these slots as shown in Figure 3. It will be understood, h0wever,-that this number may be increased or decreased as desired. The slots 15 are adapted to receive the long er end 8 of the lock cylinder 8 is turned so as to permit the crank pin 9 to release it, the coil spring 16 will bias the end of the slide bolt 8 outwardly so that if the cap 7 is rotated the lock bolt Wlll be pro ected into one of the slots 15 just as soon as the latter is brought into registration with the end of the bolt the plug and cap together.

, thereby locking In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, the closure is of the lug and incline type, that is, the closure is provided with lugs adapted to engage under the inclined lugs or cam surfaces 3 of the tank. The lugs on the closure are indicated by the numeral 17 and are formed on a ring member 18 provided with internal threads by which the ring member is threaded onto the exterior of the plug 5. This ring member is fixed in its proper threaded relation with the plug 5 by means of one or more set screws 19 (Figs. 1 and 3), and a lock nut 18 is also threaded onto the plug as an added means for fixing the position of the ring 18.

As heretofore stated, one of the important features of the invention is to provide a closure which may be readily converted from one type to another, and it is to be understood that if the closure is to be used as a screw plug the ring 18 carrying the lug 17 may be readily removed so that the external threads on the plug section 5 may be threaded directly into the internally threaded neck of a tank.

Furthermore, if the tank with which the closure is to be used has its neck externally threaded for use with a cap, the present closure may be readily converted into a cap closure by means of the adapter 20 shown in Fig. 4. This adapter comprises an internally threaded portion 21 provided with an overhanging flange 22 which is also internally threaded. This ring member 20 may be threaded onto the plug 5 by means of the threads 21 as just described in connection with the ring member 18, and may be secured in position thereon in the same manner as the member 18. When the ring or adapter 20 is thus secured to the plug it will be apparent that the internally threaded portion 22 may be screwed onto the externally threaded neck of the tank just as is done with an ordinary screw cap.

-moved by merely rotating the part 7 until the lugs 17 are brought out of engagement with the overhanging portions 3 of the neck 2 of the tank. When the desired amount of gasoline has been placed in the tank, the closure is applied in the ordinary manner and the key 9 turned until it can be withdrawn from the lock cylinder 8. When turned to this position the crank pin 9 has been rotated so as to withdraw the bolt 8' from the slot ously locks the closure in position inasmuch as any rotation of the cap now will be entirely free of the plug 5 and, therefore, the lugs 17 will remain in their locking position beneath the inclined flanges 3 of the tank spout.

.To remove the closure it is necessary that the proper key 9 be inserted in the lock cylinder 8 and rotated so as to cause the pin 9 to release the bolt 8 so that the spring 16 may draw it into one of the slots 15 of the plug 5 as soon as the cap is rotated to a position to bring the bolt into radial alignment with one of the slots.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that I have devised a very simple construction of locked closure for tanks and the like; that it is of a relatively simple and inexpensive construction; and that it is so designed as to be adapted by very simple. adjustment for use as a cap closure, a plug closure, or a lug and incline closure. It is to be further noted that by reason of using a closure as described herein the liability of theft of the contents of the tank is not only reduced to a minimum, but the liability of a successful theft of the automobile on which it is used is also greatly reduced, since it would be practi- 'cally impossible to refill the tank without detection after its contents had been removed.

In accordance with the patent statutes 1 have described what I consider the preferred embodiment of'the invention, but since various minor changes may be made in the details of the construction without departing from the spirit of the invention it is intended that all such changes be included within the scope of the appended claims.

lVhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A lockable closure for tanks, including a threaded plug section, a cap section having a hub portion disposed on the interior of said plug section, a reciprocably mounted bolt on said cap section adapted to engage said plug, a lock cylinder mounted on the interior of the hub portion of the cap for controlling the operation of the bolt, and a plate in engagement with the lower end of the plug and fixedly secured to the lock cylinder, whereby said cap section is swivelly connected to said plug section.

' 2. A lockable closure for tanks, including a threaded plug section, an internally threaded ring member screwed onto said plug, radially extending lugs on the exterior of said ring member, and means for locking the ring member to the plug.

ALFRED JOHNSON. 

